Highlights
by NikkiB1973
Summary: It is only hours to Bella's graduation and the deadline for her change. Will she go through with it? Set in Eclipse AU.


**Highlights**

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

_**A/N-I needed a break from my multi-chapter story so I wrote this one-shot set near the end of Eclipse AU.**_

The sun shone on Bella's shiny brown hair tinting it pretty colours. The silky strands turned a fierce shade of red for a moment before the sun was hidden behind the clouds again. Jacob had the urge to run his fingers through her long hair, or at least to touch it. But he knew better than to try that. Bella would not be pleased, and he couldn't take another rejection at this point. He had been through too many with her already. She was so determined to keep him in the friend's zone it was sickening. She still let him hold her hand, but the closeness they shared before Edward Cullen had come back into her life was gone.

Instead Jacob gazed out at the ocean, the sun was out again and it made the waves turn a pearly green as they lapped at the shoreline. The light breeze felt cool on his hot skin and he closed his eyes for a moment as he enjoyed the sensation.

"I like it here." Bella sounded wistful when she broke the silence. "I've missed this."

Jacob opened his eyes and looked at her curiously. "You could come here any time you wanted. It's your choice not to." He didn't mean to sound resentful, but he did.

Bella glanced at him and then turned her eyes back to the horizon. "Please Jake. Don't make this hard. I want to enjoy today. We don't have much time..." her voice tailed off as she brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Again your choice, Bella. If you just stop to think about what you are doing then..."

"I know what I want." Bella said firmly, interrupting him.

Jacob pressed his lips together and closed his eyes again to block her out. It was the same old conversation they had been having for weeks. Him trying to get her to change her mind, and her slapping him down as same old words,_ I know what I want._

"Why do you come here then, Bella? If you are so sure of your future then why do you keep asking to spend time together. This is just prolonging the agony for both of us." He replied bitterly.

Hurt flashed in Bella's brown eyes. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. "You're my best friend, Jake." She whispered.

"Not for much longer." Jacob was tired of trying to ignore how he felt. His anger overrode his usual need to comfort her when she looked upset. "This is all pointless. After you go through with your decision we can never see each other, ever."

A panicked look crossed Bella's delicate features for a second before she turned her head away from him. "I was hoping that maybe...that maybe afterwards you could still...that when things have calmed down we could still be...still see each other."

"Are kidding me?" Jacob said in disbelief. He jumped to his feet. He was convinced now that Bella was completely delusional. "You will be my mortal enemy, Bella. Do you think we could just meet up and have a pizza or something?"

Bella scrambled to her feet. She pushed her hair back out of her eyes as she looked at him sadly. "I know. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I was just trying to clutch at straws. I miss you Jake."

"Then don't go through with it." Jacob yelled at her. "The answer is simple."

Bella reached out for his hand but Jacob stepped back from her. "We have so little time. Graduation is only a week away." She said sadly.

"Then I guess it's goodbye then." Jacob continued to retreat. His heart was breaking but he couldn't take anymore of the back and forth.

"Jake, don't..." Bella became desperate as she stumbled forward. "I don't want it to end this way. Not like this."

"This is how it was always going to end." Jacob replied dully. "Bye, Bells." His last words were torn away by the breeze as he spun round and ran way from her.

Bella stared after his retreating form. There was no way she could ever catch him. They were done.

* * *

The graduation ceremony was only a few hours away. Bella hung up her yellow cap and gown. Trust the school to have chosen such a sickly color. It made her pale skin look sallow when she wore it and enhanced the dark circles under her eyes. She couldn't believe that her school life was already over; that her human life would soon be over too. She perched on the end of her bed and stared at the cap and gown. Edward and the others had been through this ritual countless times. They even had a picture board made up of their old graduation caps. She remembered him smiling ironically at her as he pointed it out to her. She supposed she would have the same expression in a few decades when she had been through it many times herself. The thought sobered her for a second. Attending high school over and over, in a different state, in a different town every few years; never being able to settle and endlessly roaming, worried about being found out. It was a fugitive's lifestyle. Is that what she wanted? Was it? Was her love for Edward Cullen enough to compensate for everything and everyone she would be losing?

Bella tore her eyes away from her graduation outfit and glanced at her reflection in the mirror instead. It wasn't often she really looked at herself. Usually she would run a brush through her hair and then turn away. She would rather not see herself than think about how inferior she was to everyone else in every way. But today she forced herself to stay still and stare. She tried to see herself through Jacob's eyes. She took in the long, silky brown hair that he loved to touch, the pale skin and the brown eyes, framed with black lashes that seemed to hold all the sadness of the world in them. If she was so certain that Edward was her future, then why did she feel so ambivalent and so sad?

She knew why. Of course she did. A certain wolf boy had got under her skin and shown her that maybe life was worth living after all. He had done it with his sunny smiles and warm bear hugs. He had shown her the flip side of the coin. He was day to Edward's eternal twilight. He was the sun and the moon rolled into one. He looked at her and didn't see clumsy Isabella Swan he saw his Bells.

Bella got up from the bed and took down her cap and gown. She chucked the cap on the floor and stamped on it. This cap would never hang on any wall. She was not going to attend graduation, she was going somewhere much more important. Before she left she picked up her cell phone and sent a message to Edward. It was brief and to the point.

_I'm so sorry but I changed my mind. I can't live without the light._

Bella picked up the keys to her truck and swiftly left the house.

* * *

The journey to La Push was slow as always in the old Chevy, but it gave Bella time to really appreciate the view as she passed. The familiar forest and open spaces were burned in her mind as she drove, one hand on the wheel and the other hanging outside the open window as she felt the breeze on her skin. Her exhaustion from the many sleepless nights vanished under a wave of adrenaline. She was on a mission. After all the angst and worry over her decision, changing her mind had been easier than she thought. With a happy smile and hope in her heart she turned into the Black's wide driveway and parked up the truck.

* * *

He wasn't in the house. No one was. Bella sighed in irritation as she jogged over to the garage. That was empty too. Where was he? She had been so hoping that he would be here. She would try the beach. If he was on patrol he would see her. He often stood atop the cliff and surveyed the coastline from there. Bella quickly got back into her truck and drove the short journey to First Beach. As she parked up on the little dirt track leading to the beach, she saw a glow on the horizon. It took her a moment to realise that it was the light from a bonfire. She cautiously got out of the truck and silently headed down toward the shore.

As she crept round the corner she could see that she was right. In the middle of the beach a bonfire had been set up. Surrounding it were several pack members, along with Billy, Sue and the other elders of the tribe. Bella suddenly felt self conscious, she was obviously interrupting some kind of sacred meeting. She tried to see if Jacob was there but her eyesight was too poor. She thought her best option was retreat. Slowly she backed down the dirt path, keeping her eyes trained on the scene in front of her. She was so immersed in not making a noise that she didn't realise someone was standing behind her. Bella clamped a hand over her mouth to stop herself crying out when her back collided with a warm chest.

"Shouldn't you be at your graduation ceremony about now?" Jacob's amused tone made Bella spin round.

"You're here." She said needlessly.

"Duh." Jacob was bare chested as always. The only clothes he wore was a pair of shorts hanging low on his hips. Bella forced her eyes to remain on his face. "Why are you here?"

"I um...came to see you." Bella replied.

"Why?"

"What's going on down there?" Bella asked instead.

Jacob looked over at the bonfire. His dad was in the midst of telling the old legends. "Seth is getting to hear the full stories for the first time and he will receive his tattoo tonight."

"Wow." Bella breathed. "So it's like his full initiation into the pack."

Jacob shrugged. "Kinda."

"Who did yours?"

"My what?" Jacob said in confusion.

"Your tattoo?" Bella tentatively reached out and touched his bicep. She was worried he would pull back but he didn't. Instead he just continued to look at her curiously as she trailed her fingers over the intricate pattern.

"Old Quil. He does them all." His voice sounded husky. Having Bella touch him was doing all kinds of things to his body.

"I want one." Bella announced suddenly. "Will Old Quil tattoo my arm?"

"What for? When you turn it will be gone." Jacob sounded bitter again.

Bella glanced up at his eyes. He was frowning. She hated it when he did that. She stopped touching his tattoo and put her fingers on his forehead instead, gently stroking away the creases. "I won't be turning."

"You won't?" Jacob was astonished. "But you said..."

"I changed my mind. A certain wolf boy showed me a different path." Bella dropped her hand back to her side. "So Jacob Black, will you persuade Old Quil to let me have a tattoo as well?"

A slow smile spread across Jacob's face. "Only if you tell me what this tattoo is going to be?" He teased her.

Bella returned his smile as she felt his warm fingers close around hers. Everything was as it should be. "I'm thinking a wolf."

"A wolf huh?" Jacob grinned at her as he began to tow her back down the path. "Any old wolf? Or a special one?"

Bella laughed, something she hadn't done in a long time. "I'm thinking maybe a red wolf."

"I see." Jacob said in amusement. "Does this wolf have a name?"

"Oh I think you know his name." Bella swung their joined hands between them. "It can be my graduation present from you."

"Who said I was getting you one?" Jacob raised his eyebrows.

Bella laughed again as she reached out and dug her hand in one of the pockets of his shorts. She pulled out a silver charm bracelet with a wooden wolf attached. "Ta dah."

"How did you know about that?" Jacob snatched it back from her.

"Your dad told my dad and I was eavesdropping." Bella smiled slyly as she held out her right wrist.

"Typical. You wait until I see the old man." Jacob placed the silver bracelet around Bella's slim wrist and smiled in satisfaction as it glowed in the dim light.

"Perfect. Thank you." Bella touched the small wolf charm and watched as it spun in a circle.

"You're welcome." Jacob took her hand again and they resumed walking toward the others.

_**A/N-thanks for reading. For now this is a one shot but I may return to it after I have finished Back to December. **_


End file.
